Teens earn Girl Scout Silver Awards

They earned their Silver Awards, the second highest honor in Girl Scouting. The award demonstrates competence in skill building, career exploration, leadership and commitment to personal development.

To earn the Silver Award a Girl Scout must complete four requirements and do a primary project as an individual or with a group.

Completing the requirements, particularly for high school students who already have big demands on their time - like school, extra curricular activities and part-time jobs - is a big deal, said their Scout leader, Cathie Goodman.

Making a meal for a family with a sick child, organizing a food drive to supply the town's food pantry and taking care of children in a summer camp program, are among the community service projects Trisha Ouellette, 15 completed towards her award.

For the food drive, which was her "main" project to earn the silver, Trisha logged 25 hours. She collected food at
Bethel High School
and outside Bethel Food Market.

Trisha has given many hours to community service since becoming a Girl Scout in the second grade, earning nearly 50 badges since that time.

"Each badge requires some community service," she said.

Emma Anderson, 15, worked with Trisha in the camp program and the two girls helped out in an English as a Second Language program at

Berry School
for pre-school age children. Emma's main project involved teaching English and Trisha helped teach math to students there.

For the career exploration component of the Silver award, some of the girls like Aycha Kurtoglu, 16, spent a day at
Western Connecticut State University
. "We went to different classrooms to learn about different jobs. People were talking about careers. There was a physical therapist and a planning and zoning officer," she said.

The girls gathered in Goodman's home recently to talk about scouting.

"At middle school there's a drop-off" in membership, said Goodman, mother of four and a She marvels at the girls who stay on during the teen years, despite the demands of school and other outside interests, plus college applications and part-time jobs. Each of the girls said they plan to stay on through senior year.

"Most of the girls here are in honors classes. Some do field hockey, lacrosse," she said. The demands of scouting increase at this level and three of the girls in the troop said they would be working towards the Gold Award, Girl Scouting's highest achievement.

The Gold Award project involves 65 hours of planning and implementing a project, one that benefits the community and has a long-lasting impact. For the Gold, a girl must demonstrate self-discipline, leadership ability, time management, creativity, initiative and a significant mastery of skills.

Girl Scouting helps round girls out as individuals and teaches lifelong skills, not least of which is the value of hard work, Goodman said. "They learn to work with other girls, who are not necessarily their friends. They become independent."

Goodman said she helps the girls, but they suggest the projects. "You guide them, but it's the girls who come up with the ideas. I'm there to counsel them, and the moms help but they are the ones doing the work."

Chelsie Ouelette talked about how she learned how to manage stress, one activity towards achieving her Silver Award.

"My mother helped with giving hand massages one day and I learned about how stress impacts your life and how to deal with it. I charted my weeks and kept track of what caused me stress," Chelsie said.

Because of her many years as a Girl Scout, Aycha said she has a group of friends she may not otherwise have.

"I don't think I would have been friends with the same girls for a long time," said Aycha. "It's also a different influence in your life. You accomplish things. You feel rewarded with a badge and in yourself. It's also something fun to do. There are trips and encampments."

One trip she particularly enjoyed was when her troop spent a night in Mystic on a whaling vessel.

Two of the girls - Amanda and Nora - brought their Silver awards with them when they joined Goodman's troop in September after their former troop, 711, disbanded when most of the members graduated high school.

Nora, in her career component for the award, researched what it takes to be a cosmetologist by visiting a school in Danbury. She also collected items for a women's shelter.

Through Scouting, said Nora, she's gained a lot of confidence. "You get to meet people and make an impact in the community."

With other demands on her time, Nora admitted their were instances when she thought about leaving Girl Scouting. "I thought about it a few times. I had so much stuff to do. So I dropped other activities and decided to stay. I'm glad I did."

Amanda is proud she received her Silver Award but says the best part is knowing her efforts for that achievement made an impact.

One of her community service projects involved collecting and distributing food to needy families in Bethel over the holidays. Amanda, worked with her father who is a volunteer of Brotherhood-In-Action, the organization in Bethel that spear heads the effort.

"I went with my Dad to deliver the food baskets," she said. "I got to see the faces of the people and the children."